The sun offers warmth, cleanses the water through evaporation, provides natural vitamin synthesis and makes plant life grow, but it can be very damaging to our skin. Sunshine is essential, approximately 15 minutes of exposure a day helps the body make Vitamin D, a substance vital to the absorption and use of calcium, which is important for the maintenance of healthy bones and teeth. Longer exposure however, may cause problems from wrinkles to skin cancer. Malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, has been on the rise as tanning has become more popular.

Skin Cancer

There are three types of skin cancer that have been linked to the excessive exposure of the sun:

• basal-cell carcinoma
  
• squamous-cell carcinoma
  
• malignant melanoma

Basal-cell and squamous-cell are slow-growing cancers, named for the sort of skin cell they originate from. These cancers are the predominant forms of skin cancer and are more curable than malignant melanoma. Malignant melanoma grows fast and is the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Early detection is very important and any warning signs should be checked by a doctor. The warning signs of skin cancer can be seen in moles. Examine moles with the following signs in mind:

Asymmetry
Borders that are irregular
Colour variations
Diameter larger than a pencil's eraser

Tanning

When you get a tan, the melanocytes in the skin are producing melanin pigment in reaction to ultraviolet light in sunlight. The pigment absorbs the UV radiation in sunlight and protects the cells from UV damage. Melanin production takes some time. You have to expose yourself to UV for a short period of time to activate the melanocytes. Exposure to UV need only be for a short period of time, they then produce melanin over the next few hours. If this process is repeated over the next 5 to 7 days, then pigment builds up in your cells to a level that is protective. This applies to those with fair skin, with some other races, melanin production is continuous and thus the skin is always pigmented to some level, therefore the incidence of skin cancer is much lower because cells are constantly protected from UV radiation by melanin.

Sunlamps and tanning beds were once thought to be safer than the sun, because they give off mainly UV-A rays. However, UV-A rays are now known to cause serious skin damage and may increase the risk of melanoma.

Sunless or self-tanning lotions containing the chemical dihydroxyacetone (DHA) may offer an alternative way to achieve a suntan. These products darken the skin without damaging it. DHA is a colourless sugar that colours (tans) the skin by staining the dead surface cells found in the outermost layer of the skin. As the dead skin cells slough off, the colour slowly fades within seven days of a single application. These self-tanning products provide limited sun protection for a few hours after application, but not for the duration of the change in skin colour.

Suncare Part 2